Tondemo Skill de Isekai Hourou Meshi

pChapter 478 -That Religious Organisation Again

The work of felling trees and clearing land went on without incident.

I must say, the magic sword turned out to be pretty useful.

How useful you ask?

When I swing Gram at the tree trunk, at first I thought I had missed the tree altogether or something. However, it turned out that Gram was so sharp that the tree remained standing on the trunk even after it had been cut down.

By the way, I learned about this by accidentally pushing at the tree and causing it to fall after cutting it. Luckily, the tree did not fall on anything important, but it did cause the twins to jump in surprise.

After that, I just place every tree into my [Item Box] after cutting them with Gram.

Speaking of which, the twins were still whacking away at the large tree they had chosen to tackle with the battle axe even after I have cleared half the trees.

“You don’t need us at all!” wailed the twins.

“Well, I did promise to reward anyone who put in the effort,” I said casually. “If you don’t want to do it anymore…”

The twins went back to whacking at the tree with the battle axe.

As for me, well, the work was more repetitive than tiring. [1a]

Even so, I soon discovered an issue once I have cleared off most of the trees.

That’s right, the tree stumps.

Should I pull them out? Smash them with my Earth magic?

Or-

“Hey, you guys. Come over and get these out,” I called my napping familiars over.

Sui happily bounced over and started melting one of the trees into a puddle. Will her Acid ruin the ground I wonder…

Fer and Grandpa Gon just used brute force to drag the stumps out. As for Dora-chan… Dora-chan used Earth magic to soften the ground before pulling one of the smaller tree stumps out.

Oh, that’s one way to do it.

Imitating Dora-chan, I also begin to loosen the soil around the smaller tree stumps.

Once the tree-clearing work was completed, I rewarded everyone who participated. The twins received a bottle of wine and a bottle of beer. As for my familiars, they wanted Fujiya Cakes so that’s what they received.

Later, I piled up the trees in a section prepared by Alban according to his direction. As for the tree roots, Tony the gardener wanted them.

“These could be made into interesting gardening features!” he declared, admiring the twisted roots.

Well, I don’t mind my servants showing such initiatives. More importantly, this kind of no-waste attitude is definitely something I could get behind.

After the trees and tree stumps had been cleared, the area ended up full of holes. I handed over the job of smoothing out the area to the twins, giving them two weeks to do the job before calling the Contractor in for the next job.

I thought of going to the Royal Capital, but ended up deciding to just stay home and relax. The plan is to do nothing for the next two weeks aside from the odd day-trip hunts and shopping trips.

Two days into the holiday, I was enjoying a cup of coffee in the garden, wondering if I should browse [Net Super] when…

“Mukouda-san!”

Peter’s voice was loud and urgent. I turned and saw Peter running over.

“What is it, Peter?”

“Th-the priests, the Rubanovs are here!”

“The Rubanovs?! Wait, is there even a Rubanov church here?”

“B-bartel is alone at the gate now… [1b]”

“Call the others,” I said immediately. “We’ll meet at the gate.”

As Peter ran off to look for Tabitha and the rest. I used my telepathy to call Fer, Grandpa Gon, Sui and Dora-chan.

[2]

““Hey, let’s meet at the gate.””

“”Huh? Why?””

“”Remember those weird people coming to demand money from us at Brixt? We have more of those at the gate.””

“”Hm? Those people in glittery clothing?””

That must be Grandpa Gon, I quickly answered, “”Yes, those people.””

“”Sui don’t like them.””

“”They looked like they might taste good roasted,””

“”Fer, I am not cooking human meat, that’s the end of that!””

“”Aww, too bad…””

“”What was that, Dora-chan?””

“”Nothing, I said, too bad they haven’t learned their lesson from before.””

“”It’s possible that this is a different group of people, even though they are from the same association,”” I replied. “”Anyway, let’s go and have a look.””

“How rude! Don’t you know who I am?!”

Ah, the last thing anyone wants to hear.

“Apologies, I do not know you. However, I am not at liberty to let you through,” Bartel sounded like an annoyed customer service worker…

“A Dwarf dares to act arrogant before the might of Man? Humph, no matter, break down this gate and kill it!”

One of the larger men in the contingent pulled out a sword and aimed a swift kick at the gate.

“Stop it!!”

Luckily, the gate did not fall at the first kick.

Bartel looked over at me. For once, I can see something like relief and desperation in his eyes. Not long after my arrival, the rest of the security detail arrived, fully armed, of course.

Good reaction time, I’ll have to commend them on that.

As for the group that just arrived at my doorstep… well, they were a flashy, gaudy bunch, dripping in gold and similar to the ones I saw at Brixt. A line of bodyguards floated around them like goldfish poop. In short, they looked like a bunch of tacky, cliché evil people out to bully others.

In the face of such obvious evil, it’s best to report them to the authorities. That’s why, instead of walking straight up to confront them, I quietly ordered Luke and Irvine to report to the Adventurer’s Guild and Knight Order about this.

Tabitha was my head of security, so I want her here, the twins were easily provoked, so I don’t want them around the Rubanovs.

By now, my familiars have also arrived.

“Are those the trespassers? I’ll slice them to bits.”

“I can destroy them so that not even ashes remain with my Dragon’s Breath.”

“”I’ll stab them with my Ice Magic!”” Dora-chan declared, clearly not going to lose in this boasting competition.

““Sui will pew pew them and melt them~~!!””

Sui-tan, that sounds… kind of disturbing actually…

“”No attacking unless I give permission,”” I told them sternly. “”I don’t want us to get into trouble with the authorities over a bunch of unimportant people.

Finally, I turned to this bunch of nouveau riche and said, “Um, so, why are you here? Also, why did you threaten my people?”

“Humph, that’s just a Dwarf, there’s no point in being polite to those things,” said a fat man in the tasteless, gaudiest-looking cloak I had ever seen. He puffed up his jewelled chest and said, “Well, enough about that, let us in first.”

Does this guy seriously believe that I’ll let him in after he dismissed my people like that?

He was still staring at me expectantly, so I cleared my throat and said, “Um, no.”

“W-what?!”

I blinked exasperatedly at him, “Why are you surprised? You were extremely rude to my people, tried to attack my security and want to barge into my house without even telling me who you are. Isn’t it normal for me to not want to let you in?”

The fat man began to tremble, “Y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-”

Pu ku ku, look at his face. It’s all red, I guess it’s kind of difficult for him to act forcefully in the face of logic?

The rest of my people were snickering in the back. I could hear them.

“How dare you speak like that to Bishop-sama! His word is divine, so you should let us in right away!” shouted one of the flashy followers.

What is this idiot talking about? Also, ‘his word is divine’? Divine to whom? [1c]

“Excuse me, are you from the Church of Rubanov?”

“That’s right! We are the sacred priests of Rubanov!”

“Ah, I see…” I nodded. “Well, it’s too bad but no one in my household is a follower of Rubanov, so I’m not sure why you’re here?”

“Y-y-you… how dare you—!!! Here I am, granting you the honour of donating to our church, but to think you would throw this opportunity away! Men, attack them. Destroy those filthy beasts!!”

The fat man’s face was already bright red, but now, blue veins of anger appeared on his forehead as he yelled at us.

“Ah, as expected, you guys are here for money…”

I swear, the fat man’s face became almost black after that.

“Kill them!! Kill those beasts!!!”

Swords were drawn at the screech of the fat man.

One of the subordinates, a particularly nasty-looking one said, “There is no need to feel bad, it is only natural for non-believers to be punished.”

What a hateful self-aggrandising statement…

“Humph, looks like you really want to die,”

“You’ve pulled your sword at us, that means you’re the enemy. Have you prepared yourself?”

Fer and Grandpa Gon stepped forward grandly, openly displaying their menace.

“Just… make sure not to kill them,” I sighed.

“H-hey…”

“I’ll k-k-kill…”

“D-d-d-die!!!”

“H-h-h-help—!!”

Goodness, looks like the killing intent from Fer and Grandpa Gon alone was enough to cause these Rubanov people to cower away.

“How pathetic,” Fer snorted.

“Indeed.”

For once, we are all in agreement.

“”Hey, that’s it? After all that talk?””

“”No pew pew~~?””

“Ah, well…”

That was when the twins arrived with people from the Adventurer’s Guild and the Knight Order.

One of the knights stepped forward to ask, “So, what happened here?”

“I heard that someone from a religious sect came to make trouble?” a person representing the Adventurer’s Guild said.

“It’s those fellows from Rubanov again,” sighed a solidly built knight in his 40s. “Those fellows have been causing problems at the Royal Capital too. Anyway, I’ll report this to the main Rubanov Church and the people at the Royal Capital, there is no need to bother Mukouda-san over this.”

“Oh, um, that would be very nice,” I said, relieved that I won’t get into trouble. “You are…”

“I’m the commander of the 3rd Knight Order that serves Lord Langridge, please to make your acquaintance, Mukouda-sama.”

“Ah, nice to meet you too,” I said with a smile. Since this person was with Earl Langridge who had helped me before, things should be fine.

“Anyway, let’s clear these trash away from your gate. Men! Take them away and throw them in prison!”

“Yes!!!”

The group of trembling bodyguards and shaking nouveau riche religious leaders were soon rounded up and dragged away.

“His Lordship informed us that we must assist Mukouda-san in any way possible. I shall report this matter to His Lordship right away.”

“Oh, um, that’s very helpful. Do thank His Lordship for me,” I said a little awkwardly, tripping over the unfamiliar titles.

“I expect that this matter shall be reported to the Royal Capital as well.”

“Ah, I see…” So, the Rubanov religious leaders could get into further trouble? Well, I don’t mind if the Rubanov believers are kicked out of the Kingdom of Elman. Good riddance!

If I hadn’t had my familiars with me, those greedy cult leaders would have no qualms about killing Bartel and barging into my house to loot my wealth.

I had thought they were just greedy money grubbers, but these fanatics were prepared to kill. I wonder just how many people have suffered under their oppression…

Maybe, it truly is a good idea to start thinking about carrying out Demiurgos-sama’s divine order…

I had been quietly trying to not think about it, but this involve actual human lives. The lives of my people in fact.

Right, let’s speak to everyone about this later tonight.

[Gumihou: Woah, Mukouda-san!]

[1] Deleted scenes:

[1a] Deleted: The twins grew up on the farm and gave xx advice. (150 words)

Already fixed this issue in the last chapter by having the Alban family talk about what to do with the leaves and branches.

[1b] Deleted: Bartel told me to bring x, y, and Mukouda-san etc

[1c] Deleted meandering thoughts about the legitimacy of the flashy follower’s claim etc etc

[2] Instead of Panicked!Mukouda, go with Exasperated!Mukouda.